Converge
The Dusk in Us (Deluxe Edition)
EPITAPH/DEATHWISH
Six years is a pretty short time span between the original release of an album and it getting the deluxe reissue treatment. In the case of Converge, though, it makes sense that their most recent studio LP (collaborations aside) is already getting another look. Not only did just about every heavy-metal authority of note include the legendary hardcore-punks’ ninth album on their best-of list for 2017, but the deluxe edition includes additional tracks that some members of the Converge camp thought should have appeared on The Dusk in Us in the first place.
Kurt Ballou, who co-founded the band over 30 years ago with frontman Jacob Bannon in Massachusetts, revealed shortly after the release of The Dusk in Us that the band members struggled to reach a consensus over which songs to include on the record. “I think we’re all equally unhappy with what ended up on the album. It was a compromise,” he told Exclaim. “Some of the songs on that album are actually some of the weakest ones that we recorded, and some of the ones that aren’t on the album are the strongest.” Strong words from a musician and revered producer responsible for some of the most notable metal records of the 21st century. (Furthermore, Bannon mentioned prior to the release of the original The Dusk in Us that Converge had written 18 songs for it; presumably, those are the 18 featured on the new deluxe edition.)
In an effort to ameliorate the disagreement between Converge’s members, to satisfy fans—or for another reason altogether—the band issued an outtakes EP the following year. Beautiful Ruin contained four of the songs left on the cutting room floor. Those four songs now appear on the deluxe edition of the LP, along with “Eve,” the B-side to its sole single, “I Can Tell You About Pain.” In fact, “Eve” is the most important inclusion on this spruced-up version of what was already a near-flawless record—a song the band has played live dozens of times even as recently as last year. (The only other bonus track from the deluxe edition that Converge has dabbled with in concert is “Melancholia,” but they haven’t busted it out since 2019.)
The Dusk in Us (Deluxe Edition)—issued in vinyl configurations, with a CD box set to follow in mid-October—is certainly enhanced by the additional cuts. “Permanent Blue” is classic Converge, replete with angular hooks and brisk tempos. “Churches and Jails” and “Beautiful Ruin” are snappy numbers that tap deeper into the band’s hardcore roots. “Melancholia” is a short-but-sweet, slamming stomp fest—a marked contrast to “Eve,” a seven-plus-minute odyssey that shows Converge’s songwriting breadth even includes spacey post-rock exploration.
None of this is news to completists, of course, who presumably already have the five extra songs thanks to the aforementioned EP and 7-inch single. But if you’re a recent Converge convert struggling to decide whether to buy the original record or this new version, buying the EP and 7-inch separately would not only be redundant but cost around the same. It’s a no-brainer for music by a band that’s one of the brainiest hardcore bands of all time.
